In children who suffer out of hospital cardiac arrest, targeted hypothermia at 33.0 C confers no benefit when compared to targeted normothermia at 36.8 C. Level of evidence: 2B (RCT with wide CIs)Appraised by: Andrew Claxton Citation: Moler FW, Silverstein FS, Holubkov R and the THAPCA Trial Investigators. Therapeutic hypothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in children. N Eng

BACKGROUND-Targeted temperature management is recommended for comatose adults and children after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; however, data on temperature management after inhospital cardiac arrest are limited.

A substantial proportion of children with TBI had unmet or unrecognized health care needs during the first year after injury. It is recommended that pediatricians be involved in the post-acute care follow-up of children with TBI to ensure that the injured child's needs are being addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. One of the recommendations that trauma center providers should make on hospital discharge is that the parent/primary caregiver schedule a visit with the child's pediatrician regardless of the post-acute services that the child may be receiving. Because unmet and unrecognized need was highest for cognitive services, it is important to screen for cognitive dysfunction in the primary care setting. Finally, because the health care needs of children with TBI change over time, it is important for pediatricians to monitor their recovery to ensure that children with TBI receive the services that they need to restore their health after injury.

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Caregivers are more likely to report family burden problems when child functioning is poorer and health care needs are unmet. Improved identification and provision of services is a potentially modifiable factor that may decrease family burden after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Between 18% and 38% of the children with traumatic brain injury had significant executive dysfunction in the first year after injury, with greater dysfunction reported for children with more severe traumatic brain injury. Our findings support previous reports that preinjury learning and behavior problems, limited family resources, and poor family functioning adversely affect executive function. These results suggest a need for more systematic screening for executive dysfunction after traumatic brain injury to increase recognition of cognitive disability and improve access to appropriate services.

ObjectiveMore children are surviving critical illness but are at risk of residual or new health conditions. An evidence-informed and stakeholder-recommended core outcome set is lacking for pediatric critical care outcomes. Our objective was to create a multinational, multi-stakeholder-recommended Pediatric Critical Care Core Outcome Set for inclusion in clinical and research programs. Design A 2-round modified Delphi electronic survey was conducted with 333 invited research, clinical, and family/advocate stakeholders. Stakeholders completing the first round were invited to participate in the second. Outcomes scoring > 69% "critical" and < 15% "not important" advanced to round 2 with write-in outcomes considered. The Steering Committee held a virtual consensus conference to determine the final components. Setting Multinational survey. Patients Stakeholder participants from 6 continents representing clinicians, researchers, and family/advocates. Main Results Overall response rates were 75% and 82% for each round. Participants voted on 7 Global Domains and 45 Specific Outcomes in Round 1, and 6 Global Domains and 30 Specific Outcomes in Round 2. Using Overall (3 stakeholder groups combined) results, consensus was defined as outcomes scoring > 90% "critical" and < 15% "not important" and were included in the final PICU COS: 4 Global domains (Cognitive, Emotional, Physical and Overall Health) and 4 Specific outcomes (Child Health-Related Quality of Life, Pain, Survival, and Communication). Families (n=21) suggested additional critically important outcomes that did not meet consensus, which were included in the PICU COS -Extended. ConclusionsThe PICU Core Outcome Set and PICU COS-Extended are multi-stakeholderrecommended resources for clinical and research programs that seek to improve outcomes for children with critical illness and their families.

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